There are a number of steps involved in order to place a breading layer on a meat or vegetable product. The base food product, for example a piece of chicken or a mushroom, is initially washed. Optionally, a fine layer of flour may then be applied to the product. Next, the food product is dipped into a liquid batter wash to coat its exterior with batter. The batter-coated food product is then placed into contact with a breading material such as bread crumbs or flour. Following this, the food product is manipulated in the breading until an even layer of breading coats the exterior of the product. The food product is then ready to be cooked in the desired manner.
The above basic procedure is followed whenever large or small quantities of foods are to be breaded. However, the commercial preparer must be able to bread large quantities of the food product in a relatively small amount of time and with maximum efficiency. Therefore, for the commercial preparer such as a restaurant or a high-volume food processing plant, a number of devices have been patented to facilitate the breading process.
Arcabasso (U.S. Pat. No. 3,225,735) teaches a breading unit that employs a rotatable drum for applying the breading to the food product. A quantity of breading material is initially placed into the drum via a hinged door. Next, the batter-coated food product is placed within the drum and the drum is then rotated to cause the breading to contact the food product. The drum includes a plurality of radially-located agitators/bumpers that help to remove excess breading from the food product.
Reed (U.S. Pat. No. 4,458,586) shows another type of breading unit that also employs a drum. In the Reed unit, once the batter-coated food product and breading material are placed within the drum, radially-located agitator bars are moved in a circular path within the drum. This causes the food product and breading material to be agitated, with the result that the breading coats the exterior of the food product.
Kennefick et al (U.S. Pat. No. 5,020,427) teaches a breading apparatus that employs a movable sifter basket that is used to transport the food product to a number of different stations along a table. The sifter basket can also be used to remove excess flour from the breaded food product by manually oscillating the basket on its pivotal mount.
There are a number of problems that are encountered when a food product is to be breaded. The above noted prior art patents address some of these problems with varying degrees of success.
Firstly, a large number of separate, time-consuming steps are required for the breading process. This makes the process labor intensive and therefore expensive for the commercial preparer.
Another problem is that it is extremely difficult to achieve an even layer of breading on the surface of the food product. There will often be areas on the food product that are not coated with breading and other areas in which the breading layer is too thick. This results in wastage of the breading and an unappealing look to the finished product.
A third problem is that the breading material and/or flour tends to clump together. To alleviate this problem, the breading and/or flour material must be repeatedly sifted in order to evenly distribute the particles, break up clumps of particles, and to achieve a uniform density of the material. However, sifting of the breading and/or flour material is a time-consuming process and usually requires the use of sifter in a dedicated space.
A fourth problem occurs during the breading process. Some batter will normally mix with the breading material and cause the formation of extremely large clumps of the breading material. These large clumps of breading, called doughballs, must be separated from the rest of the breading material and also from the breaded food product. This is normally accomplished either by hand or with a grid-type separator. Once removed, the doughballs are usually discarded.
An additional problem is that when a user wishes to change either the breading material or the food product to be breaded, an extensive and time-consuming cleaning of the apparatus is required. Different trays must be removed and transported to or from remote storage locations. If a drum or other breading apparatus is used, a time-consuming disassembly is required in order to properly clean the unit.
Lastly, when a breading machine is used, it is sometimes difficult to remove the breaded food product from the unit. As a result, the food product can become torn as it is removed from the unit, or portions of the breading material can be inadvertently scraped from the exterior of the food product.